Cyanogen hires AOKP founder Roman Birg

Cyanogen has brought on another heavy hitter in the world of custom ROMs. Roman Birg, creator of the Android Open Kang Project (AOKP) has joined the Cyanogen team. AOKP is considered by many to be the counterpart for CyanogenMod, but don’t worry, it isn’t going away.

AOKP was started in 2011, shortly after the introduction of the Galaxy Nexus. Since then, it’s gained a following that would keep the project going, even if Roman wasn’t involved. He will be, though, and the AOKP blog notes he may even have more time to contribute now. Rather than bring out a heavy dose of sentiment, the AOKP blog notes three things:

this is not the end of AOKP

Roman will still contribute / he might even have more time to do so

the unicorn will still be our mascot

So, while Roman takes his skills elsewhere, AOKP will continue to kick. This might be the first big name hire for Cyanogen, though neither party has announced just what Roman will be doing. The new-look Cyanogen straddles the line between free and open and proprietary OS.

Wherever Roman ends up at Cyanogen, he’s sure to do an amazing job. Cyanogen has been extremely active on the open side of things lately, which could be a precursor to Roman’s addition to the team. Via Twitter, Roman notes he’s already moved, and is handily confused about snowblowers. Don’t worry Roman, you’ll get the hang of it.
VIA: Liliputing